iPhone Duo Reminds Me a Lot of Owning a Rivian

After a few days with iPhone Duo, I’ve come to the conclusion that it feels a lot like owning a Rivian right now, with sweet hardware paired with software that still needs plenty of help.

Apple nailed the device itself, but iOS for iPhone Duo is struggling, and living with it has made me realize I have a much higher tolerance for everyday bugs and glitches than most people. I get that a majority of buyers would find that unacceptable (especially when you’re dropping $60k+), and that’s completely okay.

Rivian has been in that same spot for years. It builds hardware that’s just as comfortable on the trail as it is in the Costco parking lot, but the software still struggles at times.

When R1 launched, everyone knew a first generation vehicle would come with bugs. In my opinion it wasn’t that big of a deal, since R1’s price and the type of vehicle it is meant it was only ever going to reach a limited group of buyers who mostly knew what they were signing up for.

R2 changes that. Now the question is whether the software got better, stayed the same, or got worse, and I’d say it’s much better than the early R1 days while still having a way to go. Rivian has already used 2026.24 to bring Pet Mode, Launch Mode, Gear Guard, garage door pairing and Wi-Fi hotspot to R2, and Rivian Assistant followed in October.

Lag still creeps in, though, mostly after the software has been running on the vehicle for a few days, and R2 is still missing Camp Mode, Climate Hold, YouTube and Google Cast.

Back in the early R1 days that may have been acceptable. R2 is the mass market Rivian, though, and mass market buyers won’t be as patient as early adopters were.

None of this is a knock on the software team, Wassym, or anyone else at Rivian. Between the Volkswagen joint venture, the possibility of limited talent and time, and a million other things on their plate, I believe they’re doing the best they can, even if that doesn’t help much when you’re the owner still waiting on Climate Hold.

I expect Rivian to keep closing these gaps with each OTA, but the people buying R2 are going to judge it the same way they judge their phone, and that’s the bar Rivian has to clear now.

Jose Castillo Founder and Editor

Jose Castillo is the founder of RivianTrackr and has owned and driven Rivians since early in the brand's consumer history. He currently drives an R1S and an R2 in Florida and uses Universal Hands-Free every day. As a credentialed Rivian journalist, he has covered the R2 First Drive in Park City and SXSW firsthand and has spoken directly with Rivian's software and autonomy leadership.

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